Life costs less in Germany than next door

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Consumers in Germany get more for their euros than those in many of their neighbouring European countries, apart from the Czech Republic and Poland.

Germany's neighbours to the south, north, and west have higher cost of living expenses, with Denmark topping the list of all EU member countries. The price level in Germany's northern neighbour is 42.2 percent above the EU average.

A new report issued on Monday by the Federal Office for Statistics in Wiesbaden showed that prices in non-EU Switzerland and Norway, meanwhile, are even more expensive. In Norway, travellers can expect to pay 2.5 times the average prices for alcohol and tobacco.

Prices in Germany were low in comparison with some of its other neighbours, such as Belgium (11.8 above average), France (10.7 percent), the Netherlands (8 percent), and Austria (6.7 percent.)

Still, the price level in Germany was 3.4 percent higher than the average for the 27 members of the European Union,

That figure was influenced by the lower levels in some eastern European countries pulling the average down.

The study found that in Germany consumers paid 10 percent more for food, and more than the average rates for private vehicles, clothes, hotels and restaurants. Home electronics and alcohol, however, cost Germans slightly less than the EU average.

In Bulgaria, which has the cheapest prices in the EU, consumers pay about half as much as the EU average. Bargains can also be found in Turkey and in Hungary, where hotels and restaurants cost about half of the EU average.

The figures were based on an EU study on price level differences, which was released on June 22.

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